A veteran narcotics investigator says Maryland would be better off legalizing marijuana, but he says most police oppose the measure because enforcing drug laws is part of their identity.

Neill Franklin, a 33-year veteran of the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police Department, told the state House Judiciary Committee on Thursday that giving up that identity would be a "hard pill to swallow." Franklin also says drug enforcement units depend on cash and assets they seize.

After Franklin's testimony, Anderson sparred with committee members who raised objections.

Michael McDermott, R-Worcester, said marijuana dispensaries might become concentrated in predominantly black communities. He said this is already the case with liquor stores.

Anderson said the bill limits the number of dispensaries in political districts. And drug dealers already cluster in those areas, said Rev. Todd Yeary, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Del. Kevin Kelly, D-Allegany, said it could hamper employers from drug testing their workers. Anderson told him businesses would be free to continue using drug tests, but Kelly said employees fired for smoking pot might file lawsuits. It would soon get complicated for businesses, despite any protections the law might afford them, he said.

Prior to today’s hearing, about 100 supporters of legalizing marijuana, and other bills held a rally on Lawyer’s Mall.

Among those who attended the rally was Undrea Wright, who is a bail bondsman from Baltimore City.

He admits he would lose a lot of business, if marijuana were legalized, noting it costs defendants thousands of dollars to post bail and defend themselves in court.

“It should have never been illegal in the first place. Prohibition is wrong, it’s unjust,” Wright told WBAL News.

Others at the rally were critical of the state’s medical marijuana law, which currently allows research hospitals to dispense marijuana. However, none are doing that in Maryland for fear of violating federal drug laws.

Barry Considine of Halethorpe, who is confined to a wheelchair from polio, told the crowd he is breaking the law every time he gets marijuana to help treat his illness.

“It is time for me to stop worrying my wife, or my children about me being arrested, when smoking my medicine. It works for me,” Considine told the cheering crowd.

Montgomery County Delegate Heather Mizeur, who is a Democratic candidate for governor also spoke to the crowd.

After the rally, she told WBAL News that it’s not likely a bill to legalize marijuana will pass this year.

“I haven’t given up on it, but it’s clear in talking to my colleagues it’s clear that it will be a challenge to get it through this session, that there is an election coming up,” Mizeur told WBAL News.

“They want to wait and see what the voters have to say about legalization, in terms of the clear choices that exist on this issue in the governor’s race.”

Mizeur has said she will work to legalize marijuana if elected governor, and use the proceeds from taxing it to fund statewide pre-kindergarten programs.

Her rivals in the race, either oppose or are not committed to supporting the diea.

Attorney General Doug Gansler says he is opposed to legalizing marijuana, but he does say that he supports making possessing small amounts of marijuana a civil, not criminal offense.

Mizeur has sponsored such a bill that is being reviewed by the Judiciary Committee. Her bill would reduce the penalties for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana from 90-days in jail to a $100 fine.

The Senate is due to take a final vote Friday on a similar bill, but iit only applies to possession of less than 10 grams, and there are amendments to use money from fines for drug treatment programs.

Mizeur said that bill seems reasonable.

A Senate vote was expected today, but it was delayed because the final version of the bill hadn’t been printed yet.

Governor Martin O’Malley, who has said he opposes legalizing marijuana, said today through a spokesman that he would at least consider the idea.

“The Governor has signed two bills into law: one giving discretion to law enforcement to cite or arrest for possession, and another legalizing medical marijuana in limited circumstances,” O’Malley Press Secretary Nina Smith told WBAL News in an email.

“States are laboratories of democracy, so we'll continue to watch implementation of new laws in Colorado and Washington along with the impact of those laws on public health and safety -- we'll also await further guidance from the federal government on enforcement. Governor O'Malley will carefully review any legislation that passes the General Assembly before making a decision.”

In Washington, Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday endorsed a proposal that would result in shorter prison sentences for many nonviolent drug traffickers, saying the change would rein in runaway federal prison costs and create a fairer criminal justice system.

Holder's backing for a U.S. Sentencing Commission proposal to lower the guideline penalties is part of a broader Justice Department effort to lessen punishment for nonviolent drug dealers. He has been pressing to ease long mandatory sentences and has called for greater discretion for judges in sentencing.

"This focused reliance on incarceration is not just financially unsustainable - it comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate," Holder said in an appearance before the Sentencing Commission, an independent agency that establishes sentencing policies.

In a country where nearly half of all federal inmates are serving time for drug crimes, the harshest penalties should be reserved for violent drug defendants and criminals with long rap sheets, Holder said.